South Korea Invests $18 Million in the Metaverse Fund, a new fund
The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT recently announced an investment in a fund to drive metaverse-related initiatives within the country. The Cointelegraph reports.
South Korea is now capitalizing on the potential of the Metaverse to be an economic growth engine as more governments clamp down on cryptocurrencies and corporations abandon the Metaverse.
South Korea Introduces ‘Metaverse Fund’
In a press announcement in a press release, the South Korean government announced that it had invested more than 24 billion Korean won ($18.1 million) in establishing the fund, which will be over 40 billion Korean won ($30.2 million) to develop metaverse technology.
Cointelegraph informs us that The Metaverse Fund will aid in the mergers and acquisitions of different companies in the metaverse world. The government plans to help local metaverse-related companies in competing against global competitors.
South Korea actively supports local companies, along with mergers and acquisitions, by helping raise capital through private investment. Due to the inherent risks associated with investment and the fact that government officials agree it takes a lot of work for local businesses to raise capital via private investment.
Is there a future for the Metaverse?
The Metaverse, a virtual space which allows users to interact with each other in real-time, is touted as the next frontier. However, the development cost and lack of clearly defined income streams have made businesses hesitant.
For instance, Meta is reported to need help attracting customers to their Horizon Worlds platform, launched in 2021 and even asking employees to join the forum, The Verge says.
Meta has also acknowledged that the drastic job cuts in November 2022 impacted both the Reality Labs and Family of Apps (FoA) segments and the Metaverse’s development.
However, South Korea’s choice to redouble its efforts in the Metaverse is interesting, considering that other tech companies have shown an increasing curiosity about the world of metaphysics.
This was mentioned as the reason for the government’s investment in the funds. South Korea aims to stay ahead of the pack in this new area by investing in the Metaverse.
Statista Statista predicted that the metaverse market would grow to 47.48 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 before increasing to 678.8 million U.S. dollars by 2030.
South Korea Embraces Latest Tech
If you didn’t know, In case you missed it, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT announced in February that it was planning to invest $642.5 Million (826.2 billion won) in companies developing advanced AI processors until 2030.
The Korean government hopes to become a key participant in the rapidly growing world market of next-generation AI chips. That’s why it’s not unexpected that Seoul is also betting on the Metaverse.
In the report by Cointelegraph, Seoul also launched an electronic replica of Seoul on January 1st in metaphysics. Investing around two milliards won ($1.6 million) in the project’s initial phase.
In addition to this tech expansion, Korea Herald tells us that Korea recently issued its first independent sanctions against certain North Korean groups and individuals for cyberattacks and thefts of cryptocurrency.
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